Stars

Basic Information

This site tells the story of the history of the universe. Click Earlier and Later to follow the story. Note: Many facts have been simplified to make them easier to understand.

After a while the stars formed in an open star cluster drift apart, probably pulled by the attraction of passing stars. Let's focus down on one star and see how it works.

A star (such as the Sun) is a ball of gas which has, at its heart, a nuclear fusion reactor. It is important to know something about how stars work, for several reasons.

One star, the Sun, is the source of almost all the energy used by living things, including humans. We could not survive without it.
If we could copy the Sun in a small and controlled way, we believe we could obtain a great deal of energy on Earth without creating a lot of pollution.
Stars are the places where large atoms are built. Past generations of stars formed the gas and dust from which the planets and life were made.

So stars play a key part in our story.

For information on the nearest star to us, click here.

For the meaning of the word magnitude, click here.

Like this web site? Buy the book!

Earlier 12 Billion Years ago Later

Physical Environment > Stars

Basic Information